Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Well a house on wheels of sorts.We bought a 1999 Gypsey Royale Caravan.

Much of our missionary assignment involves travel.We are on the road at least a couple of days
every week or so.Sometimes we are on
the road for a week or two at a time.When it was just the two of us traveling was easy.(Well let’s be honest we got pregnant several
months after we got here so travelling then meant stopping at every possible
bathroom opportunity to empty my pregnancy sized bladder.) We packed light and
that made moving hotel rooms or hosts homes easier.But now we are a family of three.

Joe and I felt called into missions, Peter well he didn’t
have much choice in the matter.So Joe
and I are trying to balance between involving Peter in our call and giving
Peter room to find his own call.I know,
I know he is only 4 months old but we realize that patterns start early and
habits are easier to form than to break.So we are trying to be intentional now about being the parents and
missionaries and family we want to be even now when Peter is a non-verbal and
non-opinionated member of the family.We
are also trying to balance between doing what is best for our ministry and
doing what is best for our family.Many
times they are the same thing.But there
are and will be times when what is best for our ministry is not what is best
for our family and visa versa.So again
we have to be intentional about making sure that it is not always tipping in
one direction (whether it be family or ministry.) We felt it was important to give Peter a sense
of routine or a place of his own even when we are traveling to assemblies, or
site visits or with a team.We wanted to
make sure he had a place to unwind after the 5 hour dedication service or the 8
hour district assembly.We wanted to
start family traditions that make him thankful for where and how he lives not
resentful of it.But at the same time we
don’t want to raise him to think that that
the world is all about him and does revolves around him.All of these things and more were the things
we talked about when we were discussing our family and our ministry and the
possibility of a caravan.

On one of our journeys Joe said jokingly we could just get a
caravan/camper.He was kidding but it
started a conversation that carried on for several months.We joked about and then we started talking
seriously about it.We talked to our
friends, our mentors, our co-workers, other missionaries, our boss and asked is
this a good idea, how will it be viewed by those we will be working with, is it
worth the investment, what are the pros and cons we are not thinking of and are
we crazy for considering this.We looked
at a few caravans and we talked about it and prayed about it some more.We tabled the discussion several times and
then we would pick it up again.Until a
couple of weeks ago when we found a caravan that was in our budget and fit our
need/want list.And after looking at it several
times and talking and praying over it some more, we bought a caravan.On a Thursday we signed the papers and had
the official handover.Then the next day
we hooked it up to the field truck and drove it off the lot and went on our
first trip with it.Two countries, 6 district
assemblies, 1 field rally, around 2500 kilometers (about 1500 miles), 4
different caravan sites, and 8 tanks of petrol (gas) and a whole lot of
memories later.We made the right
decision and we are thankful for and blessed by the experiences that we have
had and that we are going to have as we see the countries of our field and set
up our home wherever the road leads us.This
next week we will be taking it back out for another assembly weekend.

Until next time: Ostrich’s look much smaller and cuter from
a safari vehicle than when you meet up with an ostrich family while on a walk
in a nature reserve. Then you realize how big they are and how small you
are.Thankfully Joe masterfully
protected our family and no animals or humans were harmed in said walk.Shortly after we picked up a walking stick
and we turned around when we came upon a herd of Kudu.

Friday, October 2, 2015

Life here has settled into a somewhat predictable
rhythm.Each week is a little different
depending on what is on the schedule.Most weeks involve a trip to the airport or a couple of days
traveling.Occasionally we have a week
where we are home the whole week.

Sometimes we are with teams for a
week or two at a time.In mid September
we were with a team from Upstate New York.The team was a Jesus Film Team, so the focus was on showing the Jesus
Film and on training the leaders on the District on how to use the Jesus Film
Equipment.We had a wonderful time with
the team and getting to know the pastor and church members and surrounding
community better.Peter was a big hit
wherever we went and he made a lot of friends.

Peter is doing great and is now 5.5
kilos/over 12 pounds.He is only waking
up once during the night now.He is
cooing and “talking” with us now.He
hasn’t yet figured out that he can control his arms and legs but he is
definitely moving them more and more.We
are very blessed that he is a good traveler and handles our ever-changing
schedule with ease.We pray that
continues as he gets older but we will adjust if it doesn’t.

This week we are home most of the week and
were able to spend some time in the office getting things prepared for the
upcoming District Assemblies.On Friday
we will travel to a District about 4 hours away to attend their adult camp and
encourage people to join up with the Work and Witness team we will be bringing
to their district in December.On
Sunday we will join a family from our church for lunch and fellowship.Then we will have one of the couples who are
volunteers in Swaziland in our home for a few days.We will be in the office again for a few days
and then on October 16th we head out for a little over a week for 6
different assemblies throughout our field.Four of the assemblies are in Swaziland, so Peter will get to decorate
his passport.

We feel very blessed to be a part of what God is doing
here.We are feeling more and more
connected with the leaders on our field.And count the various District Superintendents we work with as
friends.We have a wonderful missionary
community around us.We have a loving
church family that is happy to see us whenever we are not traveling.We have family and friends around the world
who love, support and pray for us.We
are blessed and try to be a blessing to others around us.

Pray with us for the upcoming assemblies and rallies that
will be help throughout our field.

Pray for the upcoming Work and Witness Teams.Two of the teams are from South Africa and
one is from Brazil.

Pray for our family as we travel, minister and live life
together.

How can we pray for you?What is going on in your life?Drop us an email heaths.missions@gmail.com
and let us know.We love hearing from
you.

Until next time: Remember, the keys to the office don’t help
you get into the office if you leave them at home.Just in case you were wondering (but most
likely figured out) that was Beth who did that.On a day that Joe was staying home with Peter.Thankfully the Africa Regional Office is in
the same building as our Field office so I just borrowed a desk space from
them.